D-A-D are certainly no strangers to the lovely garden and amusement park in the heart of Copenhagen that is Tivoli. Their last visit was in 2020, where they spent many a night playing in the park’s concert hall to a seated audience, but this time, they were back in their best element - at Fredagsrock, under an open sky, early summer in the air, playing in front of hundreds and hundreds of fans.

“As an old Copenhagen-ite, it is lovely to see so many of all ages here. Many of us grew up here.”
- Jacob ‘Cobber’ Binzer (guitar)

D-A-D took possession of the Plænen stage in style; they’re still touring with their carousel stage setup, and it looked perfectly at home in the venerable amusement park. Their amusement park intro music only helped solidify this further. This way, the crowd was already cheering before the band hit the stage, and the musicians were royally greeted when they did show up.
With no time to spill, they went straight to the set and opened up with a timeless classic in Isn’t That Wild. It’s a great song with a lot of nostalgic love attached to it, so the band was making an instant hit. The sound came off a bit odd though; it was perfectly balanced in the mix which was a treat, but it sounded weirdly tinny, like it was coming from cheap headphones. I’ve never experienced this in Tivoli before, and can’t say why it was happening now. Possibly it was my initial position out to the side, but I’ve had this position before so it seems unlikely. Moving more in front of the stage later on did seem to do the trick, but if it was the direction that did it, or they fixed it in the soundbooth, or it was the beers and the party that did it - who can say?

“We do want to play a lot of old shit, but you’ll have to live with a few new ones as well!”
- Jesper Binzer (vocals/guitar)

D-A-D followed Isn’t That Wild up with Burning Star from their latest album, proving that although their style has evolved and moved in different directions over their more than 40 year long career, they have no problem in marrying the old with the new, and that all of it is welcome with their fans. For this night though, they stayed mostly in the pre-2000 material, and this reporter was especially glad to see the inclusion of Black Crickets - an odd choice, but definitely a welcome one which incited a good old sing along. More deep cuts like that would have been awesome, but I’ll accept that this was probably not the venue for an oddball set. People are coming for the hits, and the hits they were certainly given! I mean, when the trusted encore combo of Laugh ‘N’ A ½, Sleeping My Day Away, and It’s After Dark came, the crowd exploded, taking the party to new heights. The fact that Laugh ‘N’ A ½ was played from the roof of one of the bar installations instead of the stage only helped matters along. Also, that they kicked this bit off with a tribute to the late, great Tina Turner, by playing a choice cut of the fitting hit, The Best, really got the crowd excited and singing along.

“Cobber spoke about growing, but it’s also good to stand still and hold on to a look where you looked good. Back in the Eighties.”
- Stig ‘Stigge’ Pedersen (bass/vocals)

Even though D-A-D delivered a memorable party, it wasn’t as free as they have been in the past. Jesper Binzer clearly kept his singing to a lower key than normal, and for the most part he wasn’t talking as much as he usually does. Maybe he was sick?
Still, they were all moving about, and I enjoyed that the rest of the band members got a word in as well. I can’t remember ever hearing Jacob Binzer ever talking at a show before, but I could be mistaken. Either way, it’s not a common thing, and it certainly could be.
This, combined with the sound mentioned earlier, meant that it took a little while for me to be completely won over by the show, but it did win me over, and it was a great Tivoli party that I expect everyone attending was happy with.

Setlist:

Isn’t That Wild
Burning Star
Jihad
Girl Nation
A Prayer For the Loud
Everything Glows
Empty Heads
Grow Or Pay
Black Crickets
Reconstrucdead
Rim Of Hell
Bad Craziness
I Want What She’s Got
The Best (Tina Turner cover, snippet)
Laugh ‘N’ A ½
Sleeping My Day Away
It’s After Dark